Wireless Body Area Sensor Networks for Wearable Health Monitoring: Technology Trends and Future Research Opportunities
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(IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2021 Wireless Body Area Sensor Networks for Wearable Health Monitoring: Technology Trends and Future Research Opportunities 1 Malek ALRASHIDI Nejah NASRI2 Department of Computer Science, Community College Laboratory of Electronics and Information Technology University of Tabuk, Tabuk, KSA (LETI), ENIS, Tunisia Abstract—Today, there is an emerging interest in Wireless There is loss of signal quality after extended use of the Body Area Sensor Networks (WBASNs) for the real-time electrodes and gels. monitoring of patients and early chronic disease detection. In this context, this paper presents a synopsis survey of healthcare There are many cables used to transmit data to the monitoring via the IEEE 802.15.6 (UWB) protocol. We intend to sinks. propose a survey of the current issues of wearable physiological monitoring signals and devices, application areas, and reliability To resolve conflicts and difficulties in the field of in WBASNs. To help elderly and disabled people, it would be controlling physiological signals, there is a need to develop beneficial to use a wireless transportable gadget at home to wireless body area sensor network (WBASN) architecture, gather useful data in traditional human activities. This will working on the invasive or non-invasive human body, to keep manage regular hospital and emergency department an eye on crucial health parameters. appointments and will monitor crucial physiological signals real- A WBASN based on IEEE 802.15.6 standards [4] is a time. This paper will also present a study on new wireless network composed of several vital signal sensing devices. The technologies intended for body area sensor networks, including collected data from sensors are transmitted by wireless signal processing problems, spectral allocation, security, and future research challenges of WBASNs. technologies to a medical server, then sophisticated applications analyze the data to make the right decisions based Keywords—Healthcare; physiological signals; security; UWB; generally on artificial intelligence (machine learning, deep wireless technologies; WBASN learning, and neuronal networks). Technological advances in signal processing and the I. INTRODUCTION increasing level of integration for embedded systems have Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) allow for better driven research into the engineering of new communication management of data collection in a healthcare context [1]. systems for the healthcare of elderly or disabled peoples, These include monitoring the patient’s heart including WBASNs [5][6]. Figure 1 demonstrates the process (electrocardiogram [ECG]), recording the electrical activity of of WBASN communication for health care monitoring. the brain (electroencephalography [EEG]), evaluating the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles Generally, communication in a WBASN goes through three (electromyogram [EMG]), and measuring the cornea-positive steps [7]. The first step is the detection of vital organ standing potential relative to the back of the eye parameters or physiological signals, such as blood oxygen (electrooculogram [EOG]). Physiological monitoring systems level, blood pressure, ECG, EOG, and EEG. The second step is use an embedded WSN in the patient's biological tissue to to transmit the collected data to the health server through a regularly send the collected data to the base station, which gateway using specific communication technologies, such as performs the necessary processing to ensure the healthy UWB, ZigBee, BLE, and Wi-Fi. The last step is responsible for functioning of vital organs [2]. These wireless technologies classification, analysis, and early deduction of abnormalities. allow the person to permanently control these physiological This step is achieved by using new artificial intelligence parameters and their level of performance. These systems are techniques, such as deep learning. Figure 2 shows a detailed used to send alarms to medical staff in the case of organ description of the communication processes in WBASN. malfunction or abnormal parameter detection. In this paper, WBASN technologies are applied to critical Existing signal control techniques used in hospitals cannot healthcare monitoring research areas. In addition, the network be used in transportable devices due to the following logic [3]: architecture of WBASNs is presented. Resource allocation algorithms, routing, MAC protocols, security, and privacy are Regular systems for monitoring physiology are provided with qualitative comparisons. unwieldy and not healthy to wear for an extended period. 506 | P a g e www.ijacsa.thesai.org (IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2021 BLE operates in a 2.4 GHz frequency band and can transmit data over 40 channels using CDMA spread spectrum techniques. Additionally, BLE supports data throughput from 125 KB/s to 2 MB/S, and the power consumption level does not exceed 100 mw. Table I describes the two versions of BLE, 4.0 vs. 5.0. TABLE I. COMPARISON OF BLUETOOTH V 4.0 VS. V 5.0 BLE 4.0 BLE 5.0 Data rates 125 Kb/s1 Mb/s 125 Kb/s2 Mb/s Data ranges 10 meters indoors 40 meters indoors Fig. 1. Process of WBASN Communication. Support IoT devices No Yes Power consumption High Less Security control Less (16-bit CRC) High (24-bit CRC) Message length ≈255 bytes ≈31 bytes B. ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) ZigBee is a standard that needs a low-throughput, low- energy consumption, cost-effective wireless tenders, an extended lifetime battery, and trusted networking [10]. Technically, ZigBee technology is simpler than other common wireless standards, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and UWB. Comparing ZigBee with other technologies and standards, UWB is the most suitable for WSNs because of its low power consumption. ZigBee is proposed for short-range communication and limited energy consumption. Consequently, it will not affect the battery lifetime. ZigBee presents two frequency bands, 2.4 GHz and 868/ 915 MHz. It gives 250 KB/s throughput data for 2.4 GH;z and 20 and 40 kbps for 868 and 915 MHz, respectively. Fig. 2. Signal Processing and Communication in WBASN. C. UWB (802.16.5) The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 Ultra-wide band (UWB) technology is characterized by low introduces a synopsis of WBASN communication power consumption, high data throughput, and short-range technologies. Section 3 explores WBASN architecture. Section communication [11]. Due to the health monitoring applications 4 presents WBASN routing protocols. Finally, Section 5 and limited coverage area, the IEEE 802.15.6 standard defines challenges and explores issues in WBASNs. the physical and MAC layers of UWB. Table II describes the characteristics of the IEEE 802.15.6 II. WBASN COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES standard. A WBASN is a sub-field of a WSN that interconnects A summary statement of Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), sensor nodes or actuator capabilities in, on, or around a human ZigBee (IEEE 802.1.5.4), and UWB (802.16.5) technologies is body [8]. WPANs (wireless personal area network), like presented [9–12] in Table III. Bluetooth low energy (IEEE 802.15.1), Wi-Fi (based on 802.11b), UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) based on the 802.16.5 TABLE II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IEEE 802.15.6 STANDARD standard, and Zigbee (IEEE 802.1.5.4 Standard) can be used to ensure compatibility between nodes and the base station. All Data rate Up to 10 Mb/s WBAN network architectures consist of several connected CSMA/CA MAC techniques nodes, performing the tasks of communication detection and Slotted Aloha data processing. Communication range ≈10 meters A. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE 4.0–5.0) Three levels of security: communication level, Security Bluetooth low energy is a specific technology characterized authentication level, encryption level by low-power radio consumption in which applications using 402-405 MHz; 420-450 MHz; 863-870 Mhz;902-928 MHz; BLE can run on a small battery for many years. Despite Frequency Band traditional Bluetooth, BLE is designed to exchange data 950-958 Mhz;2360-2400 MHz; quickly and over long distances [9]. 2400-2485 MHz 507 | P a g e www.ijacsa.thesai.org (IJACSA) International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2021 TABLE III. TECHNICAL PARAMETERS OF ZIGBEE, BLUETOOTH (BLE.5.0), For each model, there are three types of communication: intra-, AND UWB TECHNOLOGIES inter-, and beyond-WBAN [13]. Standards ZigBee BLE 5.0 UWB For each type of communication, there is a specific IEEE spec. 802.15.4 802.15.5 802.15.6 architecture. For example, for intro-WBAN communication, the adequate architecture is centralized (star topology). Frequency Band 2.4GHz 2.4 GHz 402 MHz2485 MHz Communication ≈30 m ≈40 m For inter-WBAN communication, the most frequently used ≈10 m indoors range indoors indoors architecture is mesh architecture to guarantee low energy Number of channels 27 40 27 consumption and a better QoS. Finally, for beyond-WBAN communication, a mesh architecture is maintained to guarantee CRC error detection 16-bit 24-bit 32-bit a better QoS. Up to From 10 KB/s to 10 Data rate 250 KB/s 2 MB/s Mb/s. A. Intra-WBAN Architecture star, tree, Topology p2p, star p2p, star On-body communication among biomedical sensor nodes mesh is called intra-WBAN communication. As shown in Figure 3, The UWB approach is intended for applications with the intra-WBAN structure is made up of an invasive cluster reduced distances that are high throughput, such as health head (CH) that collects data from invasive biomedical sensors monitoring. In contrast, Wi-Fi is designed for high range and in a star topology. CH relays information to the gateway and sustains devices with a significant power supply. The emerging then to the medical server (MS) to process data. This technology of wireless sensor networks (WSN) has become a architecture is done only for a single body [14].